Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern Boulevard Friday afternoon, May 9, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. A bill introduced Friday in the state Senate and Assembly would clear the way for city lawmakers to make Albany the first Capital Region community to install red-light cameras at up to 20 intersections. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern...

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern Boulevard Friday afternoon, May 9, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. A bill introduced Friday in the state Senate and Assembly would clear the way for city lawmakers to make Albany the first Capital Region community to install red-light cameras at up to 20 intersections. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern...

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern Boulevard Friday afternoon, May 9, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. A bill introduced Friday in the state Senate and Assembly would clear the way for city lawmakers to make Albany the first Capital Region community to install red-light cameras at up to 20 intersections. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern...

Traffic lights hang at the intersection of Shaker Road and Northern Boulevard Friday afternoon, May 9, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. A bill introduced Friday in the state Senate and Assembly would clear the way for city lawmakers to make Albany the first Capital Region community to install red-light cameras at up to 20 intersections. (Will Waldron/Times Union)

Albany may be the next city to turn to electronic eyes in a bid to keep motorists honest and pedestrians safe — and reap revenue from violators.

A bill introduced Friday in the state Senate and Assembly would clear the way for city lawmakers to make Albany the first Capital Region community to install red-light cameras at up to 20 intersections.

The pilot authorization — called a "demonstration program" — would expire December 1, 2020. Decisions about where to place the cameras would be left to city officials.

"Clearly, we know that drivers are more distracted and everybody's in more of a hurry than ever," Fahy, an Albany Democrat, said. "It is safety first — absolutely safety first."

Fahy, who sometimes rides her bicycle to her Capitol office, said she drafted the bill with the full support of Mayor Kathy Sheehan and police Chief Steven Krokoff. The police department, she said, had already begun compiling crash statistics that she called alarming.

Meanwhile, she said, the Legislature's vote last month to allow an additional 200 anti-speeding cameras in New York City and Long Island provided an opening for Albany's request for a red-light network.

"Part of the reason I am sensitized to the issue is because I do bike more," said Fahy, who lives near the busy intersection of South Main and New Scotland avenues.

Sheehan's office did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, New York City and Suffolk and Nassau counties already have state permission to use the cameras, which snap a photo of a vehicle's license plate as it runs the light and results in a ticket — or, "notice of liability" — being mailed to the registered owner. Ignoring a citation would cost another $25. The notices are akin to parking infractions, not moving violations, and would not result in points on drivers' licenses.

State approval does not require Albany to install the cameras. Syracuse won approval in 2009 but later decided the cameras "were not the best fit," said Alexander Marion, a spokesman for Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.

The Fahy and Breslin bills would require any system installed in Albany to ensure "to the extent practicable" that the photos do not capture the car's driver, passengers or anything in it. The images would also not be subject to the state Freedom of Information Law.

Boosters contend the cameras make the roads safer.

A 2005 study by the Federal Highway Administration of communities using them found fewer broadside collisions but more rear-end crashes. But those rear-end crashes, the study concluded, were generally less severe and less costly.

While studies of the cameras' effectiveness have often been disputed, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program concluded that, despite flaws, the available evidence still points to an "overall positive effect" on safety. By 2011, nearly 700 communities were using some form of electronic traffic enforcement, according to another study by the consumer rights group USPIRG.

Last year Chicago announced plans to remove cameras from 18 intersections after concluding they had become safer.

Opponents of the technology like the National Motorists Association, however, dispute that the data show the cameras make roads less dangerous, argue that they do nothing to stop distracted driving and contend that they provide a disincentive for communities to time their traffic lights.

The group also argues they are unfair because they do not show who was actually behind the wheel.

Breslin, a Bethlehem Democrat who grew up in Albany, noted that thoroughfares like Western, Washington, Madison and Central avenues are long, wide and straight — tempting drivers to push limits.

"Albanians know it," Breslin said. "The major streets in Albany are kind of straight lines, and they become in some respects race ways to beat the next light."

The Common Council has pushed for the cameras for several years.

"My hope is that it will in the end make our streets safer for everybody who uses them," said Councilwoman Leah Golby, who represents the 10th Ward around Pine Hills and has long been an advocate for pedestrian and cyclist safety.

"Any day that I look for it, I see a car running a red light — at least one car," Golby said. "If there are red-light cameras out there, people are going to think twice before rushing through a red light or a yellow light turning red. It's not about budgetary stuff. You have to look at this as safety issue."

Fahy, however, acknowledged the potential financial benefit to the city until drivers' behaviors are corrected.

"There's no denying that it does help with revenue, too – at least initially," she said.

She also acknowledged that some view the cameras as a government overreach but added, "The controversy has been mitigated by the statistics that are showing fewer accidents, fewer injuries and safer roads."